Good Grits in the Heartland

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Thursday, May 10, 2012

We won't be buying a bunch of fun new stuff just to redecorate (at least not right away) so the name of the game is gonna be use what you've got! I'm thinking I'd like to mix and match some of what has been in our bedroom in Champaign and things we have in other parts of the house...

Here's the inspiration...

Most of the elements in this room I think I could replicate with things we already have. The coverlet at the foot of the bed is a great example; we already have a quilt similar to it in our guest bedroom right now...

(We got it a TJ Maxx and it's by The Global Collection.)

See how similar it is to the other coverlet?

Our current furniture is black, including our bed, so for now that will have to work, although I've considered making an upholstered headboard... (Here's a tutorial I have pinned. I think there are many other things that will be higher on the to do list for a while.) Here's our bed in our Champaign house.

We have 2 different sets of lamps I can choose from...

Marble with white drum shades...

Or wrought iron with white drum shades which are in our current bedroom.

Friday, April 27, 2012

If you missed it, I wrote a post on the "kitchen part" of the kitchen last week. With only 20 days until we move, I'm getting so excited! When I try to go to sleep at night I find my mind drifting towards light fixtures, cabinet hardware and pedestal tables. Ridiculous! Oh well. So let's start with a few pictures of the space I'm trying to decorate.

The dining space and bathroom.

Hey Joel! Thanks for the thumbs up!

So as you can see, there is a bay window that is not centered on the wall space between the bathroom and the other wall. I'd been picturing this window as centered in my head all along when making plans for the space. Not only is it not centered, but the bathroom door opens out into the kitchen instead of in towards the bathroom blocking some of the light whenever the door is left open and messing up the plans I'd had in my head. See, here's the kind of eat in space I'd been hoping for...

Or

I'd been hoping to use the bay window seat as seating around one side of the table. BUT the window is not centered which means my table and seating will all be off center as well. The light (which is currently a ceiling fan) is centered, why can't the window be? Oh well, I can swag a light. I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do. We'll probably at least try to switch the swing of that bathroom door so it's not taking up valuable dining space. For now, I'm going to go along with my original plan with the window seat and pretend like it'll all work out.

I'm thinking about going a little bolder in this house but am not totally convinced that I can do it. Oh well, I'm just daydreaming at this point so here goes. I LOVE Amy Butler fabrics and this is one of the the prints I like best of all. I'm also excited about the concept of using all of her coordinating fabrics in the rest of the downstairs decorating!

As far as the chandelier goes, I am looking at a black iron & glass pendant for over the sink in the kitchen part of the room, so I could stick with that and go with a chandelier like this for over the table...

Picture this with white shades, not cream.

I'm not set on this chandelier but something loopy-ish and wrought iron is what I'm looking for. I could be convinced to switch to nickel if the right fixtures found me.

I'd like to find a pedestal table I can paint white and some x-back chairs like these.

I'm not sure if I would paint the chairs white or try for another color. (Honestly, depending on what kinds of chairs are available at any of the thrift stores I frequent, this could be subject to change.) However, I'm pretty set on wanting a pedestal table. I love the hand me down table we have right now but I'm tired of four legs and how limiting that can be when you have company over. With a pedestal table you can squeeze people in to your heart's content!

I like the idea of using cafe style curtains in the bay window like these...

But that's as far as I've gotten with my planning so far. Can't wait to start on some of these projects!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

On Saturday Bonnie and I participated in an attempt to break the world record for the most babies simultaneously changed into cloth diapers at the same time. This is the second time the record has been attempted and the second time we've participated! Last year we attended the event here in Champaign, IL and it was big and exciting and there were lots of giveaways. The store that hosted last year chose not to host again this year so we drove on over to Bloomington, IL to participate with some moms over there. There were 31 diapers changed at the one I went to this year and they had a few giveaways but not as many as last year (last year everyone walked away with some kind of a free cloth diaper) but I'm glad we went. It's always fun to spend time with other people you have something in common with. Here are a few pictures from Saturday...

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Our future kitchen has a weird layout. It is pretty large but has a bathroom built right into one corner of it. Keep in mind, the Lebanon house was built originally in the mid 1800's which means there was no plumbing, so that was all added later, and in (I'm sure) the easiest to get to locations. Anyways, the odd renos over the centuries years have left us with an L-shaped kitchen with plenty of square footage but not a ton of cabinets or storage. I am breaking this up into 2 different posts for the 2 parts of the kitchen. So part 1 will be the "kitchen" part of the "L."

This is not going to be the kitchen reno of my dreams, we don't have the money to rip that bathroom out and relocate it but I'd still like to dream as big as financially-possible with what we could do with the current floor plan so... this will be more like the tweaking that will keep me pretty happy (for now.) I'm going to go ahead and give y'all the "before" so you know what we're going to be working with.

Here it is, the "kitchen" part of the space. (The washing machine is not usually in the kitchen.) My In-laws are having the interior re-painted before we move in and so things are kind of all over the place.

Since we're not going to be moving any plumbing or tearing down any walls (for at least the first few years) I've been looking for inspiration that's similar to what we've already got. Here's the best of what I found...

If we got a few more cabinets and new counter top we could create the extra breakfast bar that you see here. I think it could look great! And who's going to complain about extra storage? I love the butcher block paired with white cabinets, so the first thing we'd need to do is paint the cabinets white.

I'd switch out all of the hardware for something like this, or this, or this...

And maybe an apron sink depending on how hard it would be to fit it in with the current cabinetry.

As far as window treatments go, I think a roman shade would be great for the window over the sink but haven't found the right fabric yet. I'll probably end up coordinating this little shade with whatever I do in the other part of the kitchen so stay tuned for part 2- the eat in part of the kitchen!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

I hit twenty weeks this week in my pregnancy and since a human's gestational period is forty weeks (let me get all technical on ya here) that means I'm half way to having another baby! He's supposedly the size of a melon now and wiggling all the time.

Not only have we discussed names (we haven't decided on one yet) but as you've already seen on the blog, I've been thinking a lot about the next baby's room and what I'll need this time around.

We're having a going away party here in Champaign at the end of this month and the two ladies hosting asked me if I felt comfortable registering for this baby since they want to give people the opportunity to give baby gifts again. At first I felt torn, when you think about etiquette it's been taboo in the past to register for baby #2, but I'm seeing more and more showers (or I've heard the term "sprinkles") for second babies, especially when they're of the opposite sex from your first. So I went for it. Mostly we just need clothes and a few other things that were specifically "girl" when we had Bonnie. All of our big stuff was gender neutral with her, so really, it's just me going back and saying "What should I have registered for last time that I didn't?" What are your thoughts on registering or having showers for babies after the first? I want to know! You can be honest.

Cravings up to this point: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, this salsa rice with black beans and cheese (I've had this for lunch at least once a week for the last month or two) and Orange juice.

And a big "Happy Birthday" to my hubby, who turns 28 today. I love you Paulie!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Their jewelry has been featured in countless magazines such as Elle, Vogue and Lucky... I love the fact that this is jewelry that celebrities wear but is affordable for those of us who don't have a celebrity's budget! I'm also proud to say that my wonderful sister-in-law has recently become a stylist for Stella & Dot! Somewhat of a fashion icon to those who know her, this is the perfect business for Amanda to be in.

I am going to be hosting a link for the next month so look at the jewelry for yourself and see just how cute it all is! Also, in honor of World Autism Awareness Day (April 2nd) Stella & Dot are donating 20% of the proceeds from their Shine a Light on Austism line to Autism Speaks. What a great cause!

And with Mother's Day right around the corner, drop your hubby a hint and send him the link to this sweet charm.
(I like it in gold, myself.)
They have initial and birthstone charms too!
Customize a necklace to your heart's content!

Keep in mind, I may change my mind! But, for now, I love that there are snakes, snails, ants, beehives, etc. Boyish, not too babyish and cute! Oh, and the walls are already painted a soft grey.

I really want to use navy blue. These curtains are from Pottery Barn Kids but I think I can get navy panels at Target for MUCH cheaper. (I'm just not sure if they'll be long enough, the new house has tall ceilings.)